The rankings were developed from statistics drawn from six crime categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and motor vehicle theft.

The findings are included in the new edition of City Crime Rankings, a 400-page reference book to be published Dec. 8 by Morgan Quitno. The book is frequently sold to libraries, government agencies and businesses.

Rounding out the top five safest cities were Brick Township, N.J.; Mission Viejo, Calif.; Simi Valley, Calif., and Cary, N.C.

Joining Detroit and St. Louis, which ranked 349th, at the bottom of the index, in ascending order, are Atlanta, Camden, N.J., and Washington, D.C.

Morgan said the book included all cities of 75,000 or more people that reported crime data to the FBI for the six crime categories included in the rankings. Final 2002 statistics, released by the FBI in October, were used to determine the rankings.

Morgan said Lawrence hadn't been ranked in the past because incomplete information was funneled from Kansas officials to the FBI.

The safest city rankings are one of five Morgan Quitno awards produced annually. Others are Most Livable State, Healthiest State, Safest and Most Dangerous States, and Smartest State.